BK Southie » Marty Golden

Gounardes To Run For State Senate Against Golden

Posted by Brian Hedden at 11:00 am Bay Ridge, Politics

Jan 302012

Photo: Gounardes campaign Flickr

This past Saturday outside of Fort Hamailton High School, Democrat Andrew Gounardes officially launched his campaign to unseat incumbent Republican Marty Golden in the State Senate. A 26-year-old attorney, Gounardes works for Citizens Community of New York City, and has previously worked as an aide to Council Member Vincent Gentile and US Senator Robert Menendez.

Sheepshead Bites and Bensonhurst Bean publisher Ned Berke caught up with Gounardes recently and asked a few questions about his run for office.

Redistricting: “A baby alien popping out of a stomach,” and other mild reactions

Posted by Brian Hedden at 6:00 am Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Featured story, Politics

Jan 272012

The proposed State Senate District 20 - covering Crown Heights, Sunset Park, and, um... a bunch of side streets between 4th and 5th Avenues.

The proposed Assembly and State Senate districts for elections beginning this November were released yesterday. No one was very happy, especially with the Senate districts.

Queens Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr. called District 12 a “baby alien popping out of a stomach.”

Councilman Lew Fidler, who is running to replace Carl Kruger in a March 20 special election but has has district boundaries redrawn to put his house in Minority Leader John Sampson’s district in November, called the process “disgustingly partisan.”

Governor Cuomo, through a spokesman, promised a veto.

BK Southie, which earlier this week proposed eliminating eight Senate districts (citing general economic conditions and legislative dysfunction), is now suggesting we eliminate the State Senate altogether. OK, we’re just kidding this time, but seriously, District 20. Seriously.

As expected, a new, 63rd district has been proposed, a move largely seen as a move by Senate Republicans to protect their slim majority. Former Mayor Ed Koch complained, “I am disappointed in this result and in the dishonorable lawmakers who openly pledged to do things differently this year, and then reneged when it wasn’t to their political advantage,” specifically referring to a pledge made by legislators in both parties to his movement to allow for redistricting independent of the Assembly and Senate. The same Rochester Democrat & Chronicle article quoted a NYPIRG spokesman saying population deviations exceeded a 3% good-governance guideline in 50 of the 63 districts – only 19 of the 62 districts exceeded such guidelines 10 years ago.

If there’s a silver lining for Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, its that Senate Districts 22 and 23 – currently held by Republican Marty Golden and Democrat Diane Savino, respectively – aren’t gerrymandered… much more than they have been for the last ten years. Continue reading »

Golden Questions Logic of “Teacher Pork” During Layoffs While Bloomberg Sees An Opportunity

Posted by Arturo Tedesco at 11:41 am Featured story, Politics, Schools & Libraries

Mar 182011

New York State Senator Marty Golden (R- Brooklyn) doesn’t agree with the Democrat-controlled assembly’s choice to budget $32 million for teacher training centers. The senator objects to what the Daily News calls “Teacher Pork”, at a time when the notion of teacher layoffs is becoming a reality. “How do you put money for teacher centers in when you are laying teachers off?” said Golden as reported by the Daily News.

Mayor Bloomberg has threatened the city’s educators with “more than 4,600″ lay offs. The mayor is using the possibility of job losses as ammunition in his fight with Albany to end the last in, first out law. Similar to changes currently underway in states like Wisconsin and Ohio, overturning or changing seniority protection would weaken the power of the 140,000 member United Federation of Teachers in New York City, a group that has often been at odds with the mayor. The teachers union has battled with Bloomberg over charter schools and budget cuts in recent years.

Senator Golden represents District 22, which includes Marine Park, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Gerritsen Beach, as well as parts of Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Midwood and Bensonhurst.

Daily News: Teacher centers get $32 million gift from Democrat-controlled Assembly

Election: Kruger, Golden, and the Statehouse elections

Posted by Brian Hedden at 2:08 am Politics

Nov 032010

In case you Googled this site trying to figure out if State Senators Carl Kruger and Marty Golden finally met their match… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! They are incumbent State Senators in New York, which means the system is gamed (starting with gerrymandered districts that look like something I did with my Etch-A-Sketch) in their favor. No matter how hated Carl Kruger is, he can have his seat in the Senate for pretty much as long as he wants it.

Kruger defeated Conservative challenger Avi Rosenberg, 73%-23%. Golden defeated Democratic challenger Mike DiSanto 65%-35%.

It wasn’t even close, folks.

See full Statehouse results from WNYC for the State Senate and Assembly.

Quick Slants, Election Edition – Anti-hydrofracking rally, Hikind challenger profiled, debate for the soul of Dyker Heights

Posted by Brian Hedden at 7:00 am Politics

Oct 292010

Mike DiSanto, the Democratic challenger to State Senator Marty Golden, is sponsoring a rally against hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale at the Bay Ridge Greenmarket (3rd Avenue and 95th Street) this Saturday at noon. Hydrofracking (aka hydraulic fracturing) is a drilling process that releases natural gas trapped within rock by pumping water and chemicals. Don’t ask what kind of chemicals, it’s a closely guarded industry secret. All of this is perfectly safe for drinking water, according to Senator Golden, who apparently has never done a YouTube search for “tap water on fire.” (Bay Ridge Journal – complete story)

The Yeshiva World News published excerpts from an interview with Brian Doherty, the retired NYPD sergeant and Republican challenger to 14-term Assemblymember Dov Hikind. A sampling: “His record is not unblemished by allegations of corruption…Also the case in which Mr. Hikind in my opinion exhibited the MONUMENTAL bad judgment of protecting the identities of admitted child molesters out of some misguided concern for the privacy of the victims. He should never have assumed responsibility for “investigating” these cases. The outcome was divisive, embarrassing and whether warranted or not, led to the appearance that he may have been protecting child molesters in exchange for political support and campaign cash.” (The Yeshiva World News – complete story)

Twelve-term Assemblymember Peter Abbate squared off against his 20-year-old Republican challenger, Peter Cipriano, in a debate sponsored by the Dyker Heights Civic Association, and apparently debated whether or not New York was home to the most dysfunctional state government, or merely the third-worst. Yeah, suck it, Tennessee and Wisconsin. (Brooklyn Daily Eagle – complete story)

Tuesday: Marty Golden Town Hall

Posted by Brian Hedden at 7:00 am Politics

Jun 282010

State Senator Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge) will be holding a town hall on Tuesday, June 29 at the St. Finbar’s Center (Bath Avenue & Bay 20th Street). The town hall gets started at 7pm.

Will you be going? Are you not able to? What would you like to ask the Senator?

Newsbriefs for Feb. 13, 2010

Posted by Brian Hedden at 12:13 pm Blogwrap

Feb 132010

It happened it South Brooklyn this week:

The landlord of the 86th Street building that was the site of the deadly apartment fire has been sited with three violations for illegal subdividing the third floor of the building – $25,000 per violation. The subdivisions blocked some units from fire escapes, and criminal charges may follow. (NY Daily News)
The City is seeing its most cases of mumps (900 and counting) in over 30 years. The epidemic is largely centered in the Orthodox Jewish community, and was started in the U.S. at an Upstate Orthodox boys camp from a camper that picked up the disease in England. (NY Daily News)
Eleven people were arrested in a drug raid on a Bergen Beach home. Police and neighbors have indicated that the home has been a problem – and under scrutiny – for years. (YourNabe.com)
State Senator Marty Golden is distributing a survey to users of the X27/X37 and X28/X38 bus routes in order to come to the MTA public hearing on March 3 armed with information. The MTA currently plans to consolidate the four routes into two (effectively eliminating non-stop service to Midtown) and will also end weekend service for the express lines. (Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
The City is bringing in an outside contractor – Webster Environmental Associates – to tackle a sewage odor problem along the southern end of Fort Hamilton Parkway that has alluded City agencies for years. (Brooklyn Paper)

Around South Blogistan – Aug. 14

Posted by Brian Hedden at 10:39 pm Blogwrap

Aug 142009

Unless State Senator Golden’s Strongly Worded Letter™ wins over the Hearts & Minds™ of those running the MTA, B-express service through Brooklyn will come to an end – starting in September and going on for (at least) two years – to rehabilitate the ancient stations along the Brighton line. Personally, I always thought it was kinda messed up that there was no B-train service on the weekends… I mean, they still run express service in Manhattan on the weekends. Why should the good people of Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay be made to suffer? Well, it doesn’t matter much now, because now everyday will feel like a Saturday, except with more rush hour commuters. (Sheepshead Bites, amNY via Second Avenue Sagas)

No longer able to support its own self-sufficient animal cruelty industry, Coney Island has been reduced to importing it from the outside:

If everyone who planned to go to the circus this summer saw this video, Ringling’s business would definitely suffer. It’s shameful that even after all of Ringling’s national sponsors stopped supporting them because of abuse allegations, Mayor Bloomberg and borough president Marty Markowitz still let them set up shop for the whole summer in Brooklyn, putting money before morals. (Flatbush Vegan)

For his part, Bloomie is determined to beat out Joe Sitt to be the oligarch in charge of the corporatizing of Coney Island. In that regard, his Administration has proven to have far more polish, if not any more soul, than the Thor machine.

(Full disclosure: I was totally thinking of going to this circus. Until now.)